Event 3

The event I attended for this blog was THINKING ATOMS. It was a conversation between physicist Franz J. Gießibl and nanoscientist James K. Gimzewski. New discoveries in the science world will always be met with skepticism and stubbornness, especially when that new discovery goes completely against a commonly shared belief system. The atom and the invention of the microscope was no exception. Gießibl and Gimzewski spoke about how at the time, the microscope was not really accepted by the public. Gimzeswki said he was laughed at and told it was nonsense. But he said, "like any other black swan event it became accepted." 

Nanoscientist James K. Gimzewski from THINKING ATOMS

Gimzewski understood why others called it nonsense. All of a sudden they had the ability to see all these atoms that were previously nonexistent. Even he started to question if the atoms were really there. Gimzewski started looking into it deeper and started taking a religious position. Having done it for 40 years, he started to question what was going on. 

Gießibl agreed with the skepticism of Gimzewski because the atoms can not actually be seen with our naked eye. It is not a direct way of seeing, rather, it is derived from  physical process or probe. The problem of never really seeing the atom was always in the back of his mind. Now, they could also see the structures of the atom. Gießibl described how half of the scientific community thought it was intriguing while the other half thought it was artificial and fake. Then, an artist published the image of the structure of the atom and stated that it was art. All the artist did was simply magnify it and print it many times. This introduced the artist into the world of atoms. 

Published image of a "fuzzy" atom

Gießibl and Gimzewski said that in life we don't really see reality. We all just agree upon a way to see something. I thought this was a very unique perspective to have, and I think that's what makes art so special. There are so many different ways to view abstract art, and it could look and mean something entirely different to you than to someone else. There is no correct way to view art. This can be seen when the artist simply claimed that the structure of the atom was art. It was not manipulated in any way, nor was it created by anyone. Yet he considered it art. 

I was more surprised at the fact that Gimzewski admitted that that he had his own doubts about atoms. It is not often that you hear a scientist admit that he might be wrong. I do recommend this event to other people because it was a very real conversation. Gießibl and Gimzewski were not trying to impress anyone, they just stated things how they were.  It was extremely refreshing. 

Confirmation screenshot

Works Cited

“Atom.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 22 May 2023, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atom. Accessed 30 May 2023.

“Franz Josef Giessibl.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 13 Apr. 2023, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franz_Josef_Giessibl. Accessed 30 May 2023.

“James Gimzewski.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 23 Feb. 2023, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Gimzewski. Accessed 30 May 2023.

Vesna, Victoria. “5 BioArt Pt 2.”